Groove welds may be used to join structural members to form one or more weldments of a wide variety of numerous different types of structures. In particular, groove welds may be a means by which two structural members or other metal components are joined together by the affixation of adjacent and/or mating edges or surfaces as a result of a mutual thermal bonding transformation therebetween which may be provided, at least in part, by heated filler material. At least a part of the interior of the groove weld may be composed of the filler material which may engage and thermally bond with the adjacent surfaces and edges of the pre-existing parent material of the structural members or other metal components, including at a top portion, or “toe”, and at a bottom, or “root” portion of the groove weld and the structural members.
While groove welds may be widely used as an effective means by which structural members are joined to form a wide variety of numerous different types of structures, typical, conventional groove welds may be subsequently susceptible to fatigue or failure. For example, the welded structure may be subject to cyclic loading, forces and/or stresses, which may include, in part, tensile or bending forces that produce stresses on the weld and structural members. When loading, forces, and/or stresses are applied to the structure and the groove weld, portions of the groove weld, such as the root and/or toe thereof, may be incapable of absorbing and withstanding loading, forces, and/or stresses applied thereto, and thus may be particularly susceptible to fatigue or failure.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,374,823, and entitled “Welding Portion Constitution and Welding Method,” discloses a weld assembly including first and second members having inclined portions that are joined by a weld bead. However, the failure of groove weld joints continues to be problematic in the field because the weld root and/or the weld toe remains subject to high stresses.
The present disclosure is directed at addressing one or more of the deficiencies and disadvantages set forth above.